Sarah came with a Lofrans Royal Manual windlass. While
this is a quality product I discovered that it is a little
undersized for the normal ground tackle on a 42' sailboat.
It was barely adequate for my initial ground tackle - 44 LB
Bruce anchor and 50' of 3/8" chain. Getting the anchor up
was a PITA, but it got the job done.
When I moved to 5/16" all-chain rode and then a 60 LB Manson
Supreme anchor the pain got worse.
I could normally pull in most of the chain by hand then
crank in the last 20' or so. Still that was a lot of work
and it took a lot of time at 3-4 links per crank
Finally in 2012 I bought a 1500 W Hector windlass by Quick.
The first step was to remove the Lofrans windlass as shown on
the right.

The Hector windlass has a much larger foot print that the
Royal, largely because of the electric motor. I knew I
would have to do some significant modifications to the deck in
the area of the windlass to install the Hector.
First I need to mount the Hector so I can determine what deck
modifications would be required.
The Royal was mounted on a 2" thick block of teak about 9-3/4" x
6-1/2".

Mounting Block for the Lofrans Royal

Hector Template On Top of Wood Block

First I laid the template for the Hector on top of the wood
block. It was clear the old block could not be used for
the Hector. It was also clear the aft end of the Hector
would overlap the on deck anchor well. At a minimum the
forward end of the locker hatch would have to be shortened so
the hatch could be openned with the Hector in place.

I started looking for a suitable piece of wood to replace
block used for the Lofrans. I needed a block at least
8"x8" and 2" or more thick. The thickness is necessary to
insure windlass is high enough such that the chain feed from the
anchor roller to the windlass gypsy was an upward incline.
If there is a downward incline the chain might jump out of the
gypsy.

Kauri Block Under the Hector Windlass

I finally ordered a block of
Kauri from Woodcraft that is 3" thick. I didn't
know much about Kauri except that is very hard and has been used
in boat building. Kauri comes from New Zealand and most of
the live forests are protected from harvest for lumber.
However thousands of years ago a whole forest for Kauri was
blown down ( earthquake, Tsunami, Typhoon? - nobody knows).
The trees were buried under Peat bogs until they were recently
discovered. These dead trees have been preserved in the
bogs and are now being harvested as a source of hardwood.
My block of wood came from this ancient source of Kauri.
The additional 1" of height should provide and upward angle for
the chain feed to the windlass gypsy. It will also
slightly increase the chain fall from the wheel to the below
decks locker.

Hector Windlass Roughly Positioned on Sarah's Foredeck

I placed the Kauri block on the deck and then placed the
Hector Windlass on top of the block. As you can see in the
picture on the left the windlass motor overhangs the anchor
locker. At a minimum the locker hatch cover will have to
be cut down and the forward section of the locker glassed over.

The windlass does align well with the two anchor rollers.
That is particularly important for the chain wheel on the
starboard side of the windlass. In order for the chain to
feed in and out smoothly the chain must be perpendicular to the
axis of the chain wheel. Perpendicular aligment is
important for the rope winch as well, but it is not as critical
to the Windlass operation.
I ordered a new anchor roller for the chain rode. The
new roller is about 6" longer than the existing one, which
will allow the Manson Supreme anchor to be stored in the roller
without overhanging the deck. Until that
roller is in
place I cannot fix the location of the windlass.

Alignment with the Existing Anchor Rollers

Doweling Jig to be Used as a Drill Guide

The first task is to drill the holes in the wood block for
the windlass mounting machine bolts. The problem is how to
drill the holes perpendicular to the wood block surface without
a drill press. After searching the internet for solutions
I decided on using a doweling jig, shown in the left. This
jig is normally used to drill holes in the edge of a wood piece
for dowels. However it provides a wide and level base
which I can use as a guide for the drill bit.

On of the issues that I knew I had to address was that the
windlass motor housing would overhang the on deck anchor locker.
Several P424 owners have cutout the floor of this locker
and glassed over the deck providing a deep anchor locker.
At this point I am not willing to give up that deck locker.
It is a convenient place to store snubber lines, the deck
washdown hose and other ground tackle items. Also that is
a lot of hard, dirty work.
I can cut off the forward end of the hatch, but that might
require moving the forward hatch hinge in order for the hatch to
swing past the windlass.

Overhang on the Anchor Locker Hatch

Marking the Tentative Cutout on the Hatch

In the picture above I have positioned the windlass such
that it would not require the hinge to be moved. However,
when I get the larger anchor roller in place it may be necessary
to move the windlass further aft and require the hinge to be
removed. I wasn't sure how I could do that and still keep
a functional hatch. Then I was browsing the P424 website,
looking at other windlass installations and I found the
solution.
I don't need to cut off the entire forward section of the hatch,
but just enough to allow the hatch to swing clear of the
windlass. In the picture on the left I have marked how the
forward section of the hatch could be removed to clear the
windlass and still leave the hinge in place.

In this case the windlass is far enough forward
that the entire front section of the hatch could be removed and
leave the hinge in place. However if I do move the
windlass aft less than 2" the cutout would include the location
of the hinge. If this ends up the case I can make the
cutout only go 3/4 of the way across the hatch as shown by the
marking. The small section of the hatch remaining on the
forward port side will swing under windlass.

After the Lofrans Windlass was removed the next step was to
remove the starboard anchor roller, which will be replaced by a
longer one for the Manson anchor. In order to get access
to the nuts on the machine screws holding the old roller in
place I cut a 4-1/2" access hole in the deck. This hole
will be covered by a screw-on deck plate.
In the process of removing the anchor roller I also removed the
mounting for the
pasarelle I used while in Europe.

Passarelle Mount De-Installed

Old Anchor Roller De--Installed

On the left the 5/16" machine screws that held the old
anchor roller in place have been removed.

After filling in the machine screw holes for the old roller
with Teak bungs, I installed the new Kingston roller (model
QR-30). This roller is 30" long and the entire shank of
the anchor sits in the channel of the roller. This roller
was designed for 90 LB anchors, so it should be more than strong
enough for my 60 LB Manson.

Manson 60 Anchor in the Kingston QR-30 Anchor Roller.

The Bale on the Kingston Roller Fits Over the Crown of the
Manson Anchor

When I mounted this roller I set it about 1" further
outboard from the headstay than the previous roller.
Hopefully this will allow the anchor shank to come onboard
without banging into the Harken furler drum.
Notice that the large crown on the Manson anchor fits under the
bale on the QR-30 roller. This will prevent the anchor
lifting out of the roller in rough seas. With the previous
roller I had to tie down the crown of the anchor.

The view from on deck shows the anchor shank fits completely
within the channel of the roller. With the previous roller
the shank extended more than 4" over the deck, which would
interfere with the windlass location.
The anchor is not stable lying on this roller and unless
otherwise secured will want to go overboard. This will be
a good feature when I can use the Quick windlass remote control
to release the anchor from the cockpit. It does mean I
must have a means to secure the anchor when getting underway.

View of the Anchor Roller From On Deck

Snap Shackle to Secure the Shank End of the Manson Anchor

On the left is a close up of the relocated snap shackle that
I use to secure the shank end of the anchor. On the way
off-shore from
Beaufort, NC to Southport, NC this shackle came loose (I
must not have secured it), and the anchor did a lot of cosmetic
damage to the gelcoat on the bow.
I think the new position will make it easier for me to secure
the shackle and for me to verify that it is secure.

With the new anchor roller in place I can now fix the position
of the windlass on deck. In the picture on the right I
have set the windlass on the Kauri mounting block and positioned
it on deck. The windlass is mounted on the four 6" studs,
which have been passed through holes in the mounting block and
the deck, but not secured beneath the deck with nuts.
The wiring harness has also been passed through the block and
the deck.

Windlass Set on Deck

Chain Wheel Aligned with New Anchor Roller

The chain gypsy is aligned with the anchor roller.

The wood mounting block fits the studs that are used to secure
the windlass to the deck, but the motor housing is now
cantelevered above the deck. I may have to insert another
block of wood under the motor housing. That will be done
when I have modified the deck hatch to allow it to open with the
windlass in place.
This picture was taken before the holes for the studs and wiring
harness were drilled through the deck.

Windlass Motor Cantelevered Off the Mounting Block

Chain Slot Has Not Been Cut Into Deck

All of the holes required have been drilled except the slot for
the chain to pass through the deck. After that slot has
been cut I can seal the bottom of the windlass and secure it
with a backing plate and nuts and washers.
The side of the chain slot cut into the mounting block will be
covered by a 3/4" piece of Kauri.

The dry fitting of the
windlass on the mounting block exposed a major problem with this
block - it is just too small. Although it fit the
footprint of the mounting studs the holes required for those
studs are too near the edge of the block. There is not
enough material between the holes and edge to support the forces
placed on the block by the 60 LB windlass.

Cracks in the Mounting Block

Break in the Wall of a Hole For a Mounting Stud

In the picture on the left you can see that wall of one stud
hole has broken through to the surface and there is a crack
between this hole and the hole for the electrical cables.
I have screwed a 3/4" thick piece of Kauri to the outside of the
block to cover the break in the block; however it is clear I
need a larger block of wood for this application.
Part of the problem is that the mounting holes were not
perfectly perpendicular to the surface of the block. The
studs bind in the holes. I had to enlarge the holes from
7/16" to 1/2" in order for the studs to pass through the holes.

However the studs still bound against the walls of the holes,
which produced pressure on those holes causing the breaks and
cracks.
I need to do two things to complete the mounting of the windlass
on deck:

Find a larger block of wood or plastic that can provide
sufficient wall thickness for the mounting stud holes.

Get access to a drill press or come up with a better way
to drill accurate holes in the blocks for the mounting
studs.

My final solution was to turn the fabricating of a mounting
block to a professional. Jeff Wilder operates a small
woodworking shop near the OYCM, where Sarah is berthed. He
had a large and badly checked block of Ipe (pronounced "eepay"),
but he thought he could get a block large enough for the
windlass from the good section of the block. The result is
shown on the right.
Ipe is a very dense wood used for high-end decking and other
applications requiring strength and durability. Ipe is so
dense that it does not float - it sinks, at least in fresh
water.
I have inserted the mounting studs through the block into the
holes in the deck that I previously drilled using the old block
as my drilling guide.

Ipe Mounting Block

Hole in Deck for Wiring Will Have to Be Enlarged

If you look closely you can see that the forward starboard
mounting stud will not fit into the deck hole. This is the
result of the miss-aligned holes in the old block, not a problem
with the new block. I plan to fill the drilled holes with
epoxy then re-drill them to seal the deck core. So
re-drilling the miss-aligned hole in the deck will not be a
problem, nor involve any additional work.

If you look closely at the picture on the left, above, you can
see the hole in the block for the electrical wiring is larger
than the hole in the deck. I drilled the deck hole
undersized, but then discovered that I could not pass the wire
through the hole with terminal lugs attached. I will
re-drill the deck hole to the same size as that in the Ipe
block.Chain Jam: Another problem shown in the picture
aove that
I did not fix is that the chain slot in the block does not
exactly match the slot in the deck. I didn't think that
would matter, but in 2014 on the way to the Bahamas I found the
chain would jam up in the slot when continuously taking in
chain. I found I had to pulse the windlass taking in a
couple of feet then pausing for a second to insure the chain
fell through the deck without jamming. Once I
figured this out it was not a major problem as I had to also pause
periodically to knock down any chain castle in the locker
anyway.

I re-drilled the forward starboard mounting hole in the deck
using a 7/16" bit and the wood block as my drill guide.
The hole for the wiring is supposed by 1-9/16", which is the
size of the hole in the block. I could not find a Forstner
bit or hole saw of that size, so I used a 1-1/2" Forstner bit to
enlarge the hole in the deck for the wiring.

Then I dry-fitted the windlass, studs and block on the deck.

Windlass Dry-Fitted on Ipe Block

Another View of Dry-Fit

Now everything fits properly. The next step is to fill all
of the mounting holes with epoxy to seal the walls and provide a
solid deck core to accept the compression load of the mounting
studs and nuts. The larger holes for the wiring and the
chain will not have the same level of compression force and I
will just seal the walls of those holes with epoxy, rather than
fill them and re-drill the holes.

After verifying the fit for the deck holes, I removed the
windlass and block and then sealed the holes with epoxy.
For the wiring harness hole and the chain slot I just painted
the exposed core with epoxy. For the holes for the
mounting screws I filled them with epoxy thickened with
Coloidial Silica, The bottoms of all the holes were sealed
with Gorilla Tape to prevent the epoxy from dripping through
into the anchor well.
Once the epoxy in the wiring hole and chain slot sets I will add
at least one more coat.

Decks Sealed With Epoxy

Windlass Remounted After Re-Drilling
the Mounting Holes

Two days later I re-drilled the holes and re-mounted the
windlass on the block and the deck. I still have to secure the
studs under the deck.

Before the windlass was mounted I installed the deck plate that
covers the opening to stem section of the bow.

Deck Plate for Access to Stem

Kauri Wood Fender Washers

I had planned to make a backing plate of aluminum, but the large
cutouts in the deck for the chain slot and wiring harness makes
that somewhate impractical. Instead I made 1-1/2" diameter
fender washers out of my scrap pieces of Kauri as shown on the
left.

I thought I was home free
with the deck mounting. The wooden fender washers seemed
to work fine. They also produced just enough filler that a
17mm deep socket could tighten the nuts on all of the studs but
one.
Although I couldn't see clear under the deck I could feel that
the port foward stud penetrated the deck much deeper that the
other studs. The depth of the stud under the deck was too
deep for my socket. I took the picture on the right to
confirm what I felt.
When I inserted the studs into the base I had great difficulty
getting the last stud to engage the threads on the housing.
I thought I finally got it to engage but could not get it to
thread fully into the housing. I figured that when I
started to tighten the nut it would draw the stud up into the
housing.
It appears that the process of getting the studs to feed through
the deck caused the problem stud to back off the threads.

Forward Port Stud Not Threaded Into Windlass Housing

Forward Port Stud Re-Threaded Into Housing

So I had to completely remove the windlass from the deck.
Sure enough that problem stud was disconnected from the
windlass. The hole in the mounting block is very slightly
miss-aligned with the threaded hole on the windlass frame, which it made it very difficult to
make the stud threads engage those in the windlass housing.
Once engaged the stud threads tended to dis-engage when turned
further.
Finally by backing the block off the other studs about 1" I had
enough wiggle room to get the stud threads fully engaged.
This time I used the nut to draw the stud further into the
housing threads before re-mounting the windlass on deck.

Now I believe the mounting project is complete and I can
concentrate on the electrical installation.

The most significant decision in the electrical installation
of the windlass is which battery bank will supply the power.
For the installation on Sarah I have three choices.

The House bank located in the starboard cockpit locker

The Start battery located in the aft hanging locker

A new battery bank installed under the forward berth

The first two choices involve a long cable run to windlass in
the bow. In the case of the House bank that run could be
over 100' (50' each for the positive and negative cables).
With a nominal load of 100A that run would require 1/0 AWG
cable. A battery in the bow would significantly reduce the
cable size as it would only have to carry a charging circuit
(20A or more). However, the windlass is going add a lot of
weight to the bow and a Group 31 battery would add even more
weight. Also I would have no backup for the windlass
battery in the bow. With options 1 and 2 I can use my
battery switches to have the alernate bank take up the load.

I decided not to go with the bow battery bank, but I
hadn't decided whether the House or Start bank will provide the
power for the windlass. The installation manual for the
Remote
Chain Counter I purchased with the windlass warns to not
connect the chain counter and the windlass to the same battery
bank. I assume this to avoid a major voltage drop at the
counter when the windlass motor starts up. This is the
reason I separated the House and Start banks in the first place
to avoid a voltage drop at the electronics when starting the
engine. This requirement would be best supported by the
bow battery bank, but I really don't want to go that way.

My initial thinking was to use the Start battery for the
windlass motor and the House bank for the counter. The
Start battery is only a Group 24, which would not have
sufficient capacity for anything other than brief operation of
the windlass. However, I will almost always be running the
engine when I run the windlass, so most of the power will be
coming from the engine alternator. In the unlikely event
where I need to run the windlass without the engine running I
can use my battery switches to power the windlass from the House
bank.

I discussed these options with the Quick technical support
manager he recommended against using the Start battery because
of its low capacity. He said the voltage drop from the
windlass motor, given my use of 1/0 AWG cable, would be minimal.
The real concern is signal noise from the motor in the power
going to the chain counter. So I have changed my plan to
use the House bank to power the windlass motor as well as the
chain counter. Hopefully ferrites on the chain counter
power will minimize the effect of noise from the windlass.

100 A Circuit Breaker in a FIBOX Enclosure Mounted on Bulkhead
in Starboard Cockpit Locker

Quick provided a 100A Hydraulic-Magnetic circuit breaker for the power to the windlass, but I needed
to come up with a place to mount it. Given I will be using
1/0 cable, mounting the breaker on the main electric panel is
not an option.
Instead I put the breaker in a FIBOX electrical enclosure purchased
from McMaster-Carr.
This box is mounted in the starboard cockpit locker next to the
battery selector switch for the house batteries, as shown on the
left.

One other electrical modification was necessary. All of
the negative battery cables (2 house and 1 Start) plus a few
other cables are connected on a single 5/16" terminal post in
the starboard cockpit locker. This is the post on the
right side of the picture on the right.
That post was full and I could not add the negative battery cable
for the windlass. So I installed a dual post terminal to
provide the additional space. That post is on the left
side of the picture.
I intended to move all cables off the old post and remove it;
however, the cable from the inboard house battery bank would not
reach the new post. So, temporarily, I left that battery
cable and the smaller cables on the original post and then
connected the two post with a short piece of 1/0 cable.

Once I had decided to run 1/0 electrical cables from the
house battery bank to the bow I found it very easy to keep
putting off that job. Only boat mainenance job I hate more
than electrical wiring is plumbing.
There are several issues I had to resolve and get comfortable
with the solution:

Where to join the electrical pig tails on the windlass to
the main power cables running nearly the length of the boat.

How to keep that junction from getting wet.

After looking at a number of potential solutions to these issues, I decided to
route the pigtails through the base of the on deck anchor well using
Blue Sea Cable Clams. I will use a dual power post mounted
on the underside of the anchor well to connect the cables.

I had initially dismissed the Cable Clams for the power cables
as I thought they could not accommodate the outside diameter of
the 1/0 cable. Having not come up with any other workable
solution in several weeks, I checked the specs on the largest of
the Cable Clams (pic on the right). The specs say the
largest cable diameter it can handle is 0.56" (14mm). I
measured the diameter of my cable and it was 0.56"!
I normally don't like to max out the specs on any product, but
in this case the Cable Clam will be used for the windlass
pigtails, which are 50 mm2. The outside
diameter of this cable is about 0.38", easily within the specs
of the Cable Clam.
In the past I've had difficulty drilling the hole in the rubber
seal for the cable. A standard twist drill bit does not
remove enough material to allow the seal fit around the cable
and also fit inside the compress collar. For power cables
this could be a big problem. Then I thought of using a
Forstner bit. That worked great as I could drill a hole
just smaller that the O.D. of the cable and still have it fit in
the collar and not leak.

Largest Blue Sea Cable Clam

Underside of the On Deck Anchor Locker

Having decided to use the Cable Clams to route the power cables
through the floor of the anchor locker into the chain locker
below, I needed to move all of the anchor rode out of the chain
locker.
The picture on the left shows the underside of the anchor locker
from inside the chain locker. The existing hoses in this
location are the fill hose (white) for the bow water tank, and
the hose (black) for the anchor washdown.

At this time I also noticed a problem with the hose for the
washdown - it has been lying on the bottom of the chain
locker with 300' of 5/16" chain lying on top of it.
Fortunately that is wire re-enforced water hose so it did not
collapse or break under the load of the anchor rode.
However, this is a good time to re-route the hose so that
the anchor rode does not ride on top of it.

Washdown Hose Laying on the Bottom of the Chain Locker

Power Cables Sealed By Cable Clams

Before running the 1/0 cables from the cockpit to the chain
locker, I drilled holes in the floor of the anchor locker for
the pigtail power cables from the windlass.
I sealed the holes and the cables with the Blue Sea Cable Clams
described above.
I still have to secure the cables to the underside of the deck,
but that will wait until I have all of power cables run and the
windlass operational.

I have mounted a Blue Sea dual post terminal to the under side of the
deck chain locker. In the picture on the right the pigtails
from the windlass have been secured to the posts from the right
side. The power cables from the cockpit locker come from the
left.

Dual Post Terminal in Chain Locker

Cables Secured to the Top of the Chain Locker

From the cable post the power cables are routed along the under
side of
the deck chain locker to the starboard side of the below decks
locker.

Then down the bulkhead between the chain locker and the forward
cabin.

Cables Secured to the Chain Locker Bulkhead

Water Tank Under the V-Berth

The cables are routed over the starboard side of the bow water
tank under the V-Berth.

From the V-Berth the cables are routed under the cabin sole to
the starboard cockpit locker. In the picture on the right,
the cables are secured to one of cleats for the starboard hatch
in the main saloon.

Along with the windlass I also purchased the remote chain
counter offered by Quick (CHC 1102 M). This comes with a
deck receptacle for the remote control. The chain counter and
one receptacle are shown in the picture on the right.
I also purchased a second deck receptacle to allow me to operate the
windlass via the remote control from either the cockpit or the
foredeck. There are times when I will need to operate the
windlass from either location.

Remote Chain Counter and Deck Recptacle

Many windlass installations use foot switches on
the foredeck to operate the windlass. My experience on a
few boats with foot switches motivated me to not go that way.
On several occasions when on the foredeck operating the windlass
with the foot switches, the rocking of the boat caused me to
shuffle my feet to keep my balance and I stepped on one or both of
the switches. This resulted in the anchor chain going out
or in, when I wanted it to do the opposite or do neither. In
more than one instance my stepping on the wrong switch tripped the main breaker for windlass.
I probably should admit that all my life I have been clumsy
(especially when it comes to putting my foot on the spot I
intended). Others may not have my problem with foot
switches. However this installation must take into account
my short comings - hence, no foot switches on the foredeck.

On the right is a wiring diagram
(double click to view at full resolution) for the two remote
chain counter receptacles. Power will be provided off the
main electrical panel with a dedicated 5A circuit breaker.
The receptacles come with a 3' pigtail wire containing 7
conductors. The pigtails for each receptacle will be
terminated onto a terminal strip enclosed in a water-tight
junction box.

Wiring Diagram for Remote Chain Counter

Junction Box for the Remote Control Cable

On the left is a FIBOX enclosure I purchased through
McMaster-Carr. These are pricey boxes compared to the
enclosures offered by Lowe's and Home Depot, but they are much
more robust.
I have mounted one of the receptacles for the Remote Chain
Counter on the lid of this enclosure.
The enclosure has been mounted in the aft portion of the on deck
anchor well. The black cable on the right side of the
picture is the control cable from the windlass. The white
cable on the left side of the picture is main cable that runs
from the chain locker to a terminal
strip in the aft hanging locker. That cable passes
through the floor of the anchor well using a Blue Sea Cable
Clam.
Both cables are secured to the enclosure by clamping liquid
cable seals. The anchor locker can be wet and this
enclosure needs to be water tight.

The picture on the right shows the inside of the junction
box.
I have mounted a terminal strip in the base of enclosure.
Notice the gasket seal on the rim of the enclosure and that the
closure screws are plastic. They are also contained within
the lid and are unlikely to ever be dropped overboard.

I still have to mount a 3-wire receptacle on the lid of the
enclosure for the Up/Down switch, which is a backup to the
remote chain counter.

Inside the Junction Box

The wiring
diagram documents how the conductors on the pigtails and the
main cable will be connected. The wire colors in the main
cable do not completely match those in the pigtails.

Remote Chain Counter Receptacle in Cockpit

For cockpit remote control I have mounted the 2nd receptacle
in the side of the cockpit well, near the bridge deck.

When the windlass is in use I will likely keep the remote
chain counter in the cockpit mounted on the bridge deck.
When I need to operate the windlass from the foredeck I will
likely use the Up/Down Switch.

Remote Chain Counter in the Cockpit

Remote Chain Counter Controller

On the left is the Remote Chain Counter controller in the
bracket on the bridge deck of the cockpit.

On the right is a closeup of the LCD display on the
controller.

Controller Display

Terminal Strip in Aft Cabin Hanging Locker

The deck receptacle in the cockpit is connected to a
terminal strip on the electrical
distribution
panel in the aft cabin hanging locker. The cable from the
cockpit receptacle is connected at the top of the terminal
strip. The cable from the receptacle in the anchor locker
is connected to the bottom of the strip.

The remote cabling gets its power from a 5A breaker (4th
from the top) on the auxiliary electrical panel above the
navigation station.

The schematic above shows an up/down switch (SPDTCO) in addition to the
deck receptacles for the chain counter. This switch has
been
installed in another enclosure from McMaster-Carr - in this case
a hand-held enclosure. I will install a 3-wire receptacle
in the lid of the enclosure box shown above. The UP/Down
switch will connect to this receptacle using more 8 conductor
wire, but I will only use the Black, Blue and Brown conductors
in this wire. The only 3 conductor wire I could find was
16 AWG for a bilge pump switch, and none of the local stores had
it in stock.

Up/Down Remote Control

Up/Down Remote Control, Side View

This setup will give me two hand-held windlass controls.
The remote chain counter can be used in the cockpit or on the
foredeck. The UP/Down control can be used only on the
foredeck.
In addition to being a backup to the remote chain counter, this
switch will be used to operate the rope drum on the windlass.
The rope drum will be used for my back up anchor (Fortress) and
for when the windlass is used as a deck winch. In both cases
the chain count function is of no value.

I purchased a pair of Hella water-tight, 3-wire deck
receptacles a plugs. The plug, shown on the right, is too
small for the O.D. of the 8-conductor cable. So I had
strip off a couple of inches of the insulation cover and remove
the 5 unused wires in order to hook up the plug. This left
the 3-wires in use (brown, black & blue) outside the covering
insulation and probably compromised the water-tightness of the
plug.

Hella 3-Wire Plug

Plug Sealed with Shrink Tubing

I used a long piece of 3/4" shrink tubing to provide a cover
for the exposed wires and to povide a water-tight seal on the
plug.

On the right is a pin-out of the plug as seen from the cable
end (looking down toward the deck receptacle). The large
pin at the bottom is connected to the brown wire for power.
The smaller pins at the top are connected to the blue wire
(upper left) for the up function and the black wire (upper
right) for the down function.

Pin-Out of Plug for Up/Down Switch

Receiptacle for the Up/Down Switch Installed on the Junction Box
in the Anchor Locker

For now I've installed a receiptacle for the Up/Down switch only
in the junction box in anchor locker on the fore deck. I
plan to use the Remote Chain Counter primarily in cockpit.
I will use the Up/Down switch when I need to operate the
windlass from the deck.
With the Remote Chain Counter powered on in the cockpit it will
provide the chain count even when the windlass is operated by
the Up/Down switch.
Note that the retaining strap for the cap on the chain counter
receptacle has already broken. There's more than a good
chance I'll drop this cap in the drink in the future. Need
to purchase a spare cap (or two).

The simple solution for this issue was
to cut off the forward section of the hatch, leaving the hinges
on the aft section. Now the forward section can be
permanently screwed into the deck and the aft portion can swing
clear of the windlass providing access to the anchor locker.
I took the hatch to Jeff Wilder who cut the Ipe block on which
the windlass is mounted and had him cut off the forward section
of the hatch using his radial arm saw.
In the picture on the right I have placed both sections of the
hatch over the locker openning.

Cut Sections of the Hatch Set In Place

The Forward Section of the Hatch, Which Will Be Secured in Place

I only have hand cutting tools, and I was concerned that I
would not have enough control of the saw to make a clean
straight cut. Jeff made the cut in about 10 seconds.
In the picture on the left I have removed the aft section of the
hatch after verifying it will swing clear of the windlass.

I was a little surprised that the hatch
is balsa-cored. Well, Sarah is hull #2 and I suspect
Pearson went with plywood on later hulls.

I will have to seal the cut edges with epoxy.

The Hatch is Balsa-Cored

Remote Up/Down Switch Mounted on Anchor Locker Hatch

The last task after remounting the anchor locker hatch was to
secure the holder for the remote up/down switch on the underside
of the hatch. This provides a place leave the switch on
the foredeck while at anchor. If I need take up or let out
chain the switch will be ready for use. Although the
switch is water-tight, I can close the hatch with switch in
place if it starts to rain.
When underway I will take the switch back to the cockpit.

I still have a few cleanup task to finish,
but essentially the windlass installation is complete as of Oct
9, 2013. I will only update this page if I modify the
installation.

In late January, 2014 Steve Angst joined me to
sail Sarah to the Bahamas. We had cold, nasty weather for the
first part of the trip and went down the AICW to St. Lucie
before heading across the Florida Strait to the Abacos. Then I
spent two months mostly at anchor in the Abacos before returning
to Jacksonville in late April.
This cruise exposed a number of problems with my installation.

Chain Jamming: As
described above, a missmatch between the chain slot in
the mounting block and the slot in the deck caused the chain
to jam when being retrieved in a continuous run. The
workaround was to pause the chain retrieval every couple of
feet to let the chain drop through the slots without
jamming.

Remote Chain Counter: Apparently
I only tested the counter from the anchor well position, not
from the cockpit. The first time I let out chain from
the cockpit the
counter display said, "No Sensor". Clearly this was
wiring problem, but it took me more time than it should to
find the problem in the junction box in the anchor
well. Once the loose wire was secured the chain
counter worked fine from the cockpit as well as the fore
deck. I can now set the anchor from the cockpit with
an accurate display of the amount of chain deployed.
As it turned out I seldom used the Quick Remote Control on
the foredeck. I leave it connected in the cockpit and
use the Up/Down switch on deck to pay out and retrieve the
anchor chain. I have a pretty good sense of the amount
of chain deployed without markers or a counter. Before
I set the anchor with the engine I check the chain counter
to verify that I have sufficient chain deployed. The
only time I use the chain counter on deck is when I am
putting out more chain or bringing chain in because of
weather changes.

Voltage Drop: I knew that using
the House battery bank to drive the windlass could result in
a voltage drop that could affect the electronics (GPS, Chart
Plotter, etc.) on Sarah. Since I would normally be
running the engine when using the windlass I expected/hoped
the alternator output would hold the voltage to acceptable
levels (>11 VDC) and not have an effect on the electronics.
That was not the case when the chain jammed on retrieval as
descibed above, nor when breaking the anchor out after it
was well set for an extended period of time. The chain
jamming was avoidable, but the breakout load was not. Part
of the problem is likely the weak batteries I had on board
for the trip. Also the alternator is only an 80A model. So
before make a major change in the windlass wiring I will
first replace the batteries and upgrade the Alternator to
120A (needed regardless of the wndlass issue). If that
doesn't fix the problem then I will install a Group 27 or 31
battery under the V-Berth to power the windlass and use an
Echo or Duo Charger to charge that battery.

Battery Combiner: The electrical load
of the windlass exposed a problem with how I had installed a
Blue Sea Battery Combiner to allow the single output of the
alternator to charge both the Start battery and the House
bank. I need to re-wire the alternator to charge the
House bank directly and reverse the battery combiner wiring
to have the Start battery receive its charge from the House
bank. This issue is
described
here. I think that fixing this wiring problem and
upgrading the alternator may fix the voltage drop issue and
not require a dedicated windlass battery near the bow.

When I started the windlass installation
project I had the option of removing and glassing over the on
deck anchor locker. I had previously
modified this locker to allow me to stage the chain rode in
the locker with my manual Lofrans windlass. Because the
Quick windlass requires a chain slot in the deck rather than
just a pipe, making a water tight chain passage that went from
the foredeck through this locker was not something I wanted to
attempt.
I elected (for now) to retain the
locker and make it part of the new installation. I
could see a lot of advantages to removing that locker and creating
one large locker below decks in which the chain could easily fall.
However that would be a lot of work and I would likely need to
hire someone with more expertise than I to do the glass work.
Now that I've spent one winter using the windlass I can see the
PROs and CONs of retaining this locker.

Access: Easy access to underside of the
windlass to clear chain jams and castles

Remote Control: I can leave one remote
control on deck, ready for use

Drainage: The on deck locker drains
overboard. The below decks locker drains into the
bilge. The below decks locker could be sealed from the
bilge and provided with over board drainage, but again that
is more installation work.

CONs:

Chain castles are guaranteed by the
short chain fall into the locker. When hauling anchor
I have to pause the windlass and reach under the deck to
knock down the castles. This is not a big deal in
itself, but it effectively removes the option to operate the
windlass from the cockpit when hauling anchor. I
can drop the anchor from the cockpit.

Chain Staging: Can only keep ~120' of
chain in the on deck locker, the rest remains in the below
decks locker. If I need to depoy more chain I need to
manually pull it from the below decks locker to the on deck
locker, and then manually put the excess of 120' back below
decks when hauling the anchor. In the shallow
anchorages in the Bahamas that was never necessary.

Emergencies: Cannot just let the chain
go if I have to get out of an anchorage quickly. I
have to pull all of the chain from the below decks locker, a
very time consuming task.

Single Anchor Rode: I can keep only one
anchor rode accessible on deck. The below decks locker
could be divided for two rodes with two deck pipes. If
I need to deploy a second anchor I have to haul the anchor
rode from the cockpit to the foredeck.

No Chain Stopper: Because the windlass
must be sited forward of the on deck locker, there is no
room to install a chain stopper between the windlass and the
anchor roller. This means I have to set the chain on
the mooring cleat or deploy a chain snubber before backing
down on the anchor. I probably can have a chain
stopper fabricated that can be set on the aft end of the
roller when backing down, but I haven't investigated that to
any extent.

I'm still undecided if I will retain the on
deck locker. The emergency CON is my primary concern.
One thought to mitigate that concern would be to insert a short
(< 1') length of 5/8" rope in the chain every 100' feet or so
using
crown splices. That would allow me to easily cut and
release the chain in use without having to pull all of the chain
on deck. The rope should also pass through the windlass.

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